The third stop was a bit far away. After the entire fleet emerged from the Red Sea, it began to sail northeast along the coastline of the Arabian Peninsula. While walking and exploring, it took fifteen days to complete more than 2,000 kilometers and run to the north side of the Alpine Peninsula. ☆→☆→, this is the hometown of Metini and Alin, and the roughly location is the Port of Muscat in the later Sultanate of Oman. At this time, it is called Muscat.

Compared with entering the Gulf of Aden, the fleet is much easier to enter the Gulf of Oman. The Arab merchants here often appear in the Port of Kabarram and are very familiar with the ships and flags of the Golden River Kingdom. Although they do not necessarily want these large sea boats to come to their territory to grab business, the strength comparison between the two sides is too different, so they will not have any insignificant thoughts.

This is the benefit of mutual understanding. Many troubles are caused by the two parties not knowing and not understanding. Once everyone has communication and sees clearly who the other party is, what it is, and what personality it is, some troubles will follow.

When he arrived at Alin's house, Hong Tao became a little bolder, so he took the landing team to visit Alin's house. This time, Hong Tao gave him a heavy gift, three boxes of flat glass, without looking at the monk's face and Buddha's face, Metini was also the governor of the empire who made great contributions. He could not come back in a short time, so he should help him respect his parents.

Metini's father was very pious. When he had good things, the first thing he thought of was his God. He thought that putting such a good thing in his home was disrespect to Allah. He donated all three boxes of glass to the largest mosque in the city, in the name of Hong Tao. As a result, Hong Tao had to have another enthusiastic and nonsense meeting with the local Sultan king. Then he sent out a box of glass to the bearded sultan home to decorate his palace. The reward gifts he received were ten camels and an exquisite dagger.

"Old Sai, what's the difference between Sultan and Emir?" After leaving the palace, Hong Tao began to ask questions again. The Arab world is also magical and unfamiliar to him, and many things need to be supplemented.

"There is no difference in rights. Emir was appointed by the Caliph. In name, he was a subordinate of the Caliph. The Sultan does not need the Caliph's appointment, nor does he belong to any country. He is independent." Said answered concisely, and he made the difference clearly in one sentence.

Until now, Hong Tao has roughly understood the political system of the entire Islamic world. Their caliphs and imams are equivalent to the emperors of the Song Dynasty, but they have one more religious responsibility. Further down is Emir. This title is a bit like our governor. It is a bit like the military, civil affairs, and officials' appointment and removal within the jurisdiction, making them more vivid in the local warlords. An Emir governs many tribes, and the leader of these tribes is called Sheikh. But when this tribe is too big and independent of the dynasty, Sheikh becomes a sultan, which roughly means a king. The sultans are big and small, the big ones are like the Ayub dynasty, the Ottoman rulers are also called Sultan, and the small ones are small like Oman, also called Sultan.

But these names are limited to Arabs, and they are Sunnis. If they go to the Islamic country established by Shiites, Turks, Persians, and Master Ser, there will be some changes, but the meaning is roughly the same.

Now Hong Tao is also a person with ten camels. He is still the best camel, so his curiosity is starting to throbbing again. Why do you want to go to the Bedouin tribe? It just so happened that the people of the Alin family had Bedouin friends. The tribe that was sold to Hong Tao Arabian Horse was just right. Moreover, they were not far from the Port of Masca, only five days away, and they rode the camel for five days.

For the five-day itinerary, the entire Masca Port was busy. The Alin family was a businessman and there were not so many camels at home. Hong Tao wanted to take the 300 Marines together. It took more than fifty camels to carry food and freshwater alone. The emperor loved the people as much as his son, and none of his soldiers could walk. Each man and a camel. There was no such many free camels in the entire Masca Port, so he could only hire them at high prices.

It’s not enough to just hire camels. Hong Tao also had to ask the camels to be clean and there were no parasites on them. So a large tent and a large area of ​​camels appeared outside the city of Masca. This was someone who hired to wash camels. There were too many camels to wash them in one day or two. I had to live here for several days.

It’s not the end with a camel. Since you are traveling in the desert, you have to look like you are traveling. It is definitely not suitable to wear a naval uniform. If you follow the local customs, you have to buy an Arab robe and wear a headscarf alone. This is perfect.

"Oh, it's very powerful, it's a bit like Lawrence. Let's go." Hong Tao himself changed into an Arab robe, put on a headscarf, sat on a camel to look at his team, and then looked at the dozens of guides, servants, and bodyguards provided by the Alin family. He felt very satisfied. The Marines' robe was also tied with a belt outside, with magazines and boxes hanging on it. There were two short guns on the belt, and the long gun was tied to the camel. This dress was much better than wearing a waist knife.

Hong Tao could not command the army, nor had he learned any military tactics. His arrangement was very simple. Langya's adjutant led fifty marines to walk one hundred meters in the front of the two-way column, even if he was a forward. Langya and he followed the large army behind, even if he was the main force, he would be divided into fifty people to guard the camel caravan and artillery carriage transporting supplies behind.

In order to increase his sense of security, Hong Tao specially brought three deck cannons during this trip. The camel could not pull a cart, so he was pulled by six horses. This thing can not only use shotguns to deal with cavalry in field battles, but also replace it with solid bullets to shoot the city walls and gates in siege battles. However, after seeing the Port of Masca, Hong Tao had already given up this idea. Arab cities seem to not pay much attention to the construction of city walls. Port of Masca is slightly better than Aden. At least there is a circle of earthen walls, but there is no cannon. The earthen wall is less than one person tall.

"Your Majesty, why do you have to wear such a big robe on such a hot day? You sweat in summer uniforms? Can I take it off?" Langya was not used to the wide and big Arab robe. In his opinion, short-sleeved tops and shorts are the right choice for hot days. If you cover it with another layer outside, isn't it even hotter.

"Yes, I don't force it, but don't let the soldiers take off. When you eat at lunch, if you don't feel comfortable wearing it, then we won't wear it. If you still feel comfortable wearing it, don't mess around." Hong Tao himself didn't know what it felt like to wear this big robe. It is said that it can prevent sunburn and keep your body hydrated in dry and hot climates like the desert, but he never rushes to draw conclusions about things that have not been tried personally.

This time it was Hong Tao again. Before noon, Langya put on the big robe and headscarf again. The heat here is different from Hainan Island, Luzon Island, Jawa Island, and Kalamba. You can't see sweat at all. It's not that you can't come out, but that you're evaporated by the poisonous sunshine and dry and hot wind as soon as you come out.

If he didn't have this silk robe to block it, he wouldn't be able to drink water regularly, and his skin wouldn't be able to stand it. In two hours, Langyao turned into a lobster, and his whole body was red. He probably would regret it at night. His skin was slightly burned and itched. Hong Tao tried this taste. He often fished, especially those who went to sea fishing, could not escape this disaster. Even if he applied sunscreen, it would still not work.

The road from Maska to the Bedouin tribe said that the desert is not a desert, and the Gobi is not a Gobi. There are small oasis in some places. Hong Tao can’t tell what the specific terrain is. It’s not very comfortable anyway. Even wearing a big robe, it can only feel a little better, but it’s actually uncomfortable. As soon as the sun comes out, everything will be hot. Touching the short gun hanging on the belt can make the skin on your hands red. The wind blowing on your face will make people feel that there is fire in your nostrils, your throat is always dry, and your voice is hoarse.

No wonder the Arabs here do everything slowly. Under such natural conditions, if they are anxious, they will not be able to survive. Not only are people slow, but also camels. They walk the same as when they have thoughts, thinking about each step, and the average speed is less than five kilometers per hour, which is similar to that of people themselves.

For the first time, Hong Tao controlled his mouth and stopped talking nonsense. He was almost asleep while sitting on the camel's back. Only in this hazy state would he feel less uncomfortable. If no one followed him at this time, he would want to go home directly, and he would have to walk forward for five days, which would cost his life.

It would be so uncomfortable to walk like this. If you fight the Arabs in this area, it is easy to imagine how difficult it is. It is no problem to occupy the city and clean up the surroundings of the city. However, if you want to go deep into the desert to defeat these nomadic tribes, you may have to have a plane to do it. Of course, if you have a trait, it would be different. The leading party is a must for any colonist.

But the most deadly thing is not during the day, but at night. The temperature in the desert does not exceed ten degrees at night, and the body temperature is even lower. There is still fog and dew in the early morning. The soldiers standing guard outside were wet and shivering with cold. The tents were not much better, and the temperature was low and could not bear it, but the small insects that came out of the sand could not bear it. Over the course of one night, more than a dozen soldiers were bitten by scorpions. Fortunately, the Arabs who accompanied him had medicine to treat this, so it would not be dead.

He loves colds and colds. In addition to scorpions and poisonous insects, colds have also become the second major trouble for the Marines. He can't even figure out the heat or typhoid fever, and he can't get rid of the treatment with twice the result. Looking at the Marines who have headaches, coughs and runny noses all day long, Hong Tao felt that he was really not a general who led thousands of troops to fight in all directions, but was still more at sea, and that was his territory.
Chapter completed!